According to The Knoxville News Sentinel, guards found an 82-year-old Roman Catholic nun, a gardener and a housepainter splashing blood and painting messages on the $549 million storage bunker that holds the nation’s primary supply of bomb-grade uranium.

The intrusion early Saturday resulted in armed security guards being scrambled to find Megean Rice; Greg Boertje-Obed, 57; and Michael Walli, 63, hanging banners in the dark and reportedly singing and offering to break bread with them. The protesters reportedly offered to share a Bible, candles and white roses with the guards. Rice is from Nevada; Boertje-Obed is from Duluth, Minn.; and Walli is from Washington, D.C. They were arrested on federal trespassing charges.

The protesters called themselves “Transform Now Plowshares.” There is no known Plowshares national protest group, but there is a philosophical practice of using high-profile demonstrations to draw attention to nuclear disarmament and related causes.

Details about how they got into the high-security area aren’t known.

Ellen Barfield of Baltimore is a friend of the protesters and has been a spokeswoman for the activities. She said they used wire cutters to breach several fences and gain entry to the site. Barfield said the protesters talked about crossing a high ridge to reach the plant.

Government spokesman Steven Wyatt said the protesters endangered themselves.

“The protesters put themselves at a high risk of losing their life in performing this act,” Wyatt said. “We are thankful that did not occur.”

Wackenhut Services, which provides security at the plant, has frequently said the security force has strong capabilities and massive firepower, if needed. Company spokeswoman Courtney Henry referred a request for comment to the National Nuclear Security Administration.

“There will be lessons learned from this incident that we will use to further refine and improve our security posture at Y-12,” NNSA’s Wyatt said.

There was no immediate comment on whether a plan to eliminate about 34 security jobs at the Y-12 plant would be reconsidered in light of the weekend intrusion.